Abstract

Excessive wind, ice, and snow regularly cause majordisturbances to forests in many parts of the world, significantlyimpacting both ecological conditions and economicreturns to forest landowners. These events cause immediatelosses for landowners, and the broken and uprooted treesleft in the wake of a storm increase the risk that wildfires,disease, and pest outbreaks will cause secondary damage tothe surviving trees. Although weather severity (e.g., windspeedand duration, or form and amount of precipitation)is clearly an important factor in the occurrence and severityof forest damage, site conditions, tree characteristics,and stand characteristics play a major role in determiningresistance of a forest stand to wind, ice, and snow loading.However, the relationships between site, tree, and standcharacteristics and weather damage are complex and varyspatially and temporally. In this article, we review andsynthesize the literature on the risk of forest damages fromsevere weather—focusing on wind, ice, and snow—andthe factors that influence vulnerability. Forest managementdecisions are found to play an important role in influencingrisk associated with severe weather events. The risk of damagescan be managed through strategies such as selection ofplanting site and species, stocking, and selection and timingof silvicultural treatments. Optimal management strategiesunder endogenous risk vary based on the probability ofdamage and management objectives.